G'Warts
by TooManyWaffles
Summary: The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) have put into play the MAGES program, a project that is an attempt to give normal American No-Majs the ability to preform spells. They selected 15 teenagers, and have shipped them off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
1. Chapter 1

**CONNER I**

* * *

Conner liked to take inventory of himself when he was nervous. As the blurs of cloaks and capes streamed across his vision, he patted himself down, just to make sure he knew what he had on him. He had his wallet, containing 100 Galleons, the strange currency used by the wizards in Britain. Along with the coins, it contained a small amount of normal American dollars, which were useless not only in Britain, but in Diagon Alley, where he now found himself. Lost.

The only other thing he had on him was the hastily crumpled collection of documents he had shoved into his pockets. The papers that went into exquisite detail as to his joining in on the MAGES program, his registration as a wizard, and his student application form for Hogwarts.

He looked up from his coat pockets at the mass multitude of Witches and Wizards around him. Everything was so chaotic and disorderly, he could barely get his bearings in the twisting alley. The people around him were too lost in their own conversations or their fascinations with wizarding goods on sale to notice how nervous and hurried he was. Oddly enough, the bits of bleached hair on his head were the least strange thing anyone in the crowd could gawk at.

Phillis had specifically told them. "To make sure no one gets lost, we're dividing into groups. Conner, you'll be with Michael and Seth." Where were they now? Conner had no idea. He also had no idea where any of the other groups were going, except for Jonah, Jack, and Calvin. He specifically heard them mentioning that they wanted to check out Quidditch supplies before the group met up at Flourish and Blotts for book buying.

However, finding exactly where they had gone to do this was more than Conner knew. What did a Quidditch shop even look like? At this thought, Conner's face hastily met the floor as he tripped, sending his entire body crashing down onto the stone road. People scurried around him, as not a single person made any moves to help him up or even ask if he was okay. So far, Wizardkind wasn't making any good first impressions.

As Conner rose, collecting himself, he did a once over, turning about, spying the object he had tripped over: a book. He bent over to pick it up, examining it. It was an enormous tome, about a foot wide in page length, a completely blank leather cover, with what seemed like hundreds of strings and cords laced over the edges, preventing it from being opened. Whatever it was, it looked magical.

He looked around him, holding the book visibly, silently asking if anyone nearby had dropped it. No one made any moves to grab it. Conner sighed and spirited it away into his arms. Luckily he hadn't dropped anything, and if he ever found Phillis, he would ask her about the book.

With that, he made off down the street again, not sure how anyone managed to navigate it. It was going to be a long year.

After what seemed like hours, but was most likely only five minutes, a hand grasped his shoulder, making him nearly jump out of his skin. He turned, and was met with the familiar face of Phillis Stabelle. She was incredibly gaunt, and nearly as tall as Michael was, her bone thin fingers released him as she saw his face, and sighed with relief. Her face always seemed rather strange to Conner, due to the stark contrast between the silver blonde of her hair and the deep tan of her skin.

"Conner! We've been looking all over for you!" She cried, as a worried Seth appeared behind the billowing folds of her minty green cloak. She embraced him in an awkward motherly hug, as Seth stood nearby, perfectly content to not be involved. Phillis was a hugger. She pulled away, after an uncomfortable amount of seconds, and grasped Conner's and Seth's hands, and began to lead them both through the streets.

"You had me worried sick! What did I tell you to do if you got lost?" She asked him.

"You didn't tell us to do anything if we got lost." Conner replied, confused.

"I didn't have to! Everyone knows you could just-" She cut herself off, "Er, I guess every Wizard knows…um...Well, whatever, it doesn't matter. I forced Michael to stay behind and hold our spots in line. They said on the letter that this would be the recommended day to shop for supplies! You wouldn't believe the lines! Out the door and into the next shop, I swear!"

When they arrived at the rather quaint bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, Conner could see what she had meant. Dozens of cloaked and robed figures stood waiting for a chance to get inside the book store, a few in the back frozen with looks of apprehension, not sure if it was better to come back or get in while they had the chance.

As they squeezed into the doorway, rubbing past several people who gave them angry comments about the existence of the line and the proper social etiquettes which forbade cutting, they easily found the 6'3'' beacon that was Michael, his broccoli-shaped curls sticking out like a lighthouse over the tops of the many pointed caps and hoods.

"Oh! There you are!" Michael said, turning around to face them, "Apparently, not everyone is here for school books, there's a sale on Gilderoy Lockhart books, they're sixty percent off!" Michael explained to Phillis.

She nodded. "However, I don't understand while he's still so popular. He stopped writing seven years ago." Even inside the enormous shop, which went up and up, at least four stories stacked with bookshelves brushing against the ceilings and floors, people filled the first story, heading to check out. Books were piled in stacks, bursting from the shelves, and decorated the tables that lay about every five feet. All about wizards...

"Um...Phillis, could you get my books for me? I wanna take a look around." Conner asked. Phillis looked nervous at this.

"Conner, you JUST wandered off, I'm not sure I can-" However, she was interrupted by Michael.

"Phillis, there's only so many places he could go. As long as we make sure he doesn't leave the store it shouldn't be hard to find him again." Phillis looked between Michael and Conner, trying to make a decision, until finally shrugging in acceptance.

"Alright, but don't go far, you hear me?" Conner nodded, and immediately wandered off to the first staircase. The first thing on display were an array of books by the esteemed Gilderoy Lockhart. _Voyage with Vampires, Gadding with Ghouls, Wandering with Werewolves,_ and a most predominant _Magical Me_ placed upon a pedestal wherever it could be. _Who am I?_ His latest book, was practically nowhere to be found.

As he passed these, and started towards the third story, he started coming across stranger books. He let his fingers run across the bindings, wondering which book he wanted to start with. Then he pulled it away. He already had a book to read. He produced the enormous tome from his jacket, marvelling why Phillis didn't ask him about something that must have been so obvious to see.

"Now how the heck do I get this open?" He asked out loud, as he looked over the numerous cords. He began pulling at them, digging his fingers in, trying to pry them open. Nothing budged. He sat down crossed legged, and set the book in front of him. He was going to have to put some back into it. Moments passed as he dug grooves into the skin of his fingers, trying to rip the straps off, but to no avail.

Suddenly, he was interrupted as a black cloak came into his field of vision. He looked up, and saw a tall figure completely garbed from head to toe in a black cape, the hood pulled so low, Conner couldn't see his face, despite being below him. The figure was standing there, staring at him.

"Um...can I help-" but before Conner could finish, the figure grabbed Conner by the bulk of his hair, and threw him against one the shelves. A multitude of thick and heavy books slammed onto his head after the shelf did, definitely giving him bruises, and most certainly knocking off his hat.

Angry and injured, Conner began to stand up as the cloaked figure tucked the book inside the folds of his robes. Conner was about to yell at him, when he produced a wand from the folds of his robes, and flicked across his face. Corresponding with the motion the wand had made, a great force slammed into Conner, knocking him to the ground again. As he lay there, several more invisible blows slammed into his back, beating him battered and bloody.

He was hastily yanked to his feet, and through swollen and bloody eyelids, saw the tip of the figure's wand, as the man whispered, "Obliviate." And the hooded shape was the last thing Conner saw before his vision became one dark void.


	2. Chapter 2

**BEN II**

* * *

Ben didn't like the groups. When Phillis had assigned them, Ben was all fine and dandy not being in the same group as Michael or Conner, he didn't really care that much. And even when he was told he'd be in a group with Colin and Brittany, not a tear was shed. But now, after three hours of trailing after the two, he'd wished he'd been told they were dating. He would have begged on his knees for a different group.

They were across the room from him, both looking at the variety of caged owls throughout the Menagerie, hoots and wing flaps echoing throughout the enormous store. Ben was over by the multitude of cats, which were all an array of rainbow colors, as was the wizarding style. Phillis had told them to get a pet after they had finished buying their school supplies, as it was all on the list that was optional.

Conner had immediately begged Phillis for a sparkling purple cat at the first pet shop they visited, but Ben currently had his eyes set on a fluffy black cat. She had bright pink eyes, that the ancient old man behind the counter pointed out glowed in the dark. It sounded cool. The cats were all crawling around him as he lay on the floor. He had originally tried texting, just to see if what Phillis had said was true. Wizards couldn't get bars.

As he put his phone away, he had drawn out his wand. Ben hadn't quite adjusted to the mindset that he was a wizard now. This wand wasn't just a stick, with it, he could cast magical spells. It was just a little much to swallow. Not to mention, he didn't know any spells, and Phillis had thoroughly instructed each and every person before they split that after they received a wand, not a one of them was to go waving it about, as the results could be disastrous.

In fact, Ben was a little jealous of Brittany. Both he and Colin had gotten their wands on the first try, whereas Brittany was forced to go through a variety of wands, flinging them around like a conductor, while little bits and scraps of papers and boxes exploded and flew in the air. She had practically a whirlwind of catastrophe until finally the haggard old man behind the counter handed her a lovely black piece of Walnut wood, emblazoned with a Unicorn's Tail Hair.

He twirled his own wand between his fingers like a drumstick. Hickory Wood, with a Dragon Heartstring for a core. It had a fine handle, well polished leather wrapped around lovely painted wood. The end was decorated with a silver branch-like design, that seemed to glow with light the longer he stared at. What a Dragon's Heartstring was or what it did was more than Ben knew.

He wondered what would happen if he flicked the wand. Just, gave it a little wave. Would something explode? Why? There was so little he understood, and such a long wait until term started, and any of these questions would be answered. Ben's thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. He looked up, and saw the faces of Colin and Brittany looking down at him.

"You all done?" Colin asked him. It was clear they were ready to go, and no matter what response he gave them, they were going to leave.

"Yeah." Ben muttered, as he stood, flinging a few cats off of him, as they gracefully landed and ran about the pen. He stepped over the gate, and began to follow the two out, when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the sparkling purple cat. He spun around on his heel, towards the old man at the counter.

"How much for this?" He asked, pointing towards the cat.

"Only a couple sickles, although you'll want food of course." He responded, indicating a few aluminum cans on the counter. He looked back at the cat, and then down at his wallet. Phillis had assured them that since they were old enough to attend Hogsmeade field trips, they would need some money during the school year, but she would be happy to supply them from the MAGES project budget.

"I'll take it." He said, drawing forth a few of the silver coins from the remains of his wallet. The two traded hands, and soon, Ben, Brittany, and Colin all walked out of the Magical Menagerie, with a sparkling purple cat dancing between their legs. At least it would be someone to talk to.

Eventually, the trio found their way to Flourish and Blotts, their established meeting place, where their school books would be purchased. As they made their way through the crowd, they immediately spied Phillis outside, with a concerned Seth & Michael by her side. They were all hunched over, looking at something at their feet, blocked from Ben's view.

As the three approached, Ben realized that it was a person.

"Ah! Ben!" Phillis exclaimed, turning around towards them. As she turned to face him, Ben caught a glimpse of what they were looking at. Conner lay hunched up against the side of the bookstore, his clothes and face drenched in blood pouring from his nose. His trademark beanie was nowhere to be found upon his head, and as Ben looked around, Michael was clutching it in his hands, a concerned look on his face.

"What the heck happened?" Brittany called from over Ben's shoulder, trying to get into their awkward huddle.

"We don't know. He went to go look at some books on the second story, and we found him, crap all kicked outta him." Seth pointed out, gesturing to Conner's crap kicked face, as if it needed very careful explaining.

"Phillis, can't you do magic or something?" Michael said, taking a step forward, still clutching Conner's hat as if it were his purse.

"Well…" Phillis said as she bit her lip.

"I don't know how or why this happened, and if it was done by magic, trying to heal him may result in something disastrous. We should just take him back to the Hotel and leave," She said, making an effort to collect Conner's limp form and carry him off.

"I can carry him," Colin volunteered, moving forwards between Ben and Brittany.

"No, no, you all need to finish buying your wands." Phillis said, struggling with Conner's weight.

"We already got ours." Colin said, brandishing a slick and smooth piece of Rosewood.

"Well, alright then, I suppose." Phillis said, practically dropping Conner into Colin's arms, who was able to carry him no problem. Michael began to awkwardly fidget.

"We haven't picked out our wands yet." Michael whined to Phillis, who seemed incredibly distraught by the whole situation.

"We?" Seth questioned, producing a richly crafted Mahogany wand, decorated with several holes and swirls. Michael groaned.

" _I_ haven't picked out a wand yet." Michael said begrudgingly towards Seth.

"Alright, yes, run along quickly, and meet us all at the Leaky Cauldron when you're done, and I'll apparate us out to our Hotel one at a time." Phillis explained, as she pushed Colin through groups of curious onlookers.

Ben sighed. Not even a day and Conner had already been beaten senseless, and all they had to show for it was a purple cat. This was going to be a long year.


	3. Chapter 3

**MICHAEL III**

* * *

Michael had specifically waited to be the last person to get his wand. Conner and Seth had gotten theirs as soon as they had entered through the Brick Wall. Both flicking the things back and forth after Michael had insisted on staying outside the shop. Conner's had been a very standard stick, with a slight aesthetic dent in it, made with cherry wood, embedded with a Phoenix's feather. Seth's was a jagged piece of beautiful mahogany, with a very large hole in a jutting hilt, and somewhere within was imbued a strand of a unicorn's mane. They were both incredibly beautiful, and Michael would bet the remainder of his galleons on his being even cooler. He had only two galleons.

Ollivanders was a curious shop. Despite being the famous, reputable, and most popular wand shop in all of Diagon Alley, the street around the entrance to the shop was deserted. No one seemed to want to move close to it, and the shop itself was incredibly dingy. The letters on the sign were practically peeling with old paint, _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._ it read proudly. It seemed the shop's reputation might have been a bit dated.

A small little bell sounded as Michal pushed open the rather heavy wooden door, echoing slightly through a room most would assume was filled with shoeboxes. Bookcases were piled up as tall as in Flourish and Blotts, going up several stories, with ladders in place to allow one to reach even the tippity top. However, instead of books, these cases held numerous little boxes, within each was a wand.

Phillis had been very clear in explaining that their wands were not meant to be used until they had arrived at school, but Michael figured that since he was last and alone, how would she find out? For this reason, he was excited to blow something up, or at least make it sparkle. The first thing that struck him was how empty the shop was. With terms starting, every wizard and their mother were filling up each and every store ready for purchasing supplies, yet the wand shop was free of any and all lines.

The next thing he noticed was how eagerly he was being watched. The old man behind the counter was transfixed on Michael as he looked around, not saying anything, but not looking away. The man was certainly Ollivander, this much Michael already knew, but Michael hadn't seen him before today. The man had a very wrinkled face on him, topped by incredibly long and stringy white hair, that poofed and twirled this way and that in the most unkempt of ways.

Michael had an otherworldly respect for people who had uncontrollable hair, as he had the same affliction, and thus, found himself already taking a liking to the man. Not to mention, anyone about to give Michael the ability to perform magic was alright in his book. As Michael returned the man's stare, neither of them said anything, and so it was clear to Michael that he would have to initiate the conversation. He cleared his throat.

"Um, Hello." He said. The man nodded curtly. But said nothing in response. "I'd like a wand." Michael continued.

"Young man, I can hardly imagine any other reason one would enter my shop." Mr. Ollivander said, very matter-of-factly. Maybe Michael didn't like him very much after all. The entire time, their eyes had been locked, neither one of them wanting to look away.

"Can I have one?" Michael asked again, expecting an equally rude response.

"Young man, do you know why a wizard needs a wand?" Ollivander asked him.

"To do magic?" Michael said, thinking the question rhetorical, but Ollivander shook his head.

"Any wizard can do magic with a surge of emotion, and when one knows the effect they can produce and the name which it is given, it becomes easier to produce it. Very experienced wizards have no need for wands." He explained.

"Okay, cool." Michael said, now desperately wanting a wand, and not very intrigued by what the man was teaching him.

"A wand is merely a tool, used to aid the wizard in discerning spells. But, even still, they are so much more." As he said this, the old man practically leaped around the counter to stand directly in front of Michael, startling him.

"You see, the wand chooses the wizard."

"Um...it what?" Michael asked, now incredibly confused. It had never occurred to Michael that wands could be alive, and if they were, he was glad he hadn't been born as a magic stick.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, young man, and I'll remember yours until the day I die." Ollivander said mysteriously, as he grasped Michael's right arm, and began moving it around.

"Is this your wand arm?" Ollivander asked him. Michael nodded, having no idea what that meant.

"I think I've already got the perfect wand in mind." Ollivander said, racing back to his counter, and up and up a ladder with astonishing speed. He returned a moment later carrying a little black box. He placed it firmly into Michael's hand, and opened the top, revealing a wand. It was a rather gaudy thing, with little bits and prods sticking out of the ends, like a mace, made of an incredibly dirty looking wood. Michael removed it from the box, and looked up at Ollivander.

"Well, give it a wave." He told him, gesturing with his arms. Michael did as much, thrusting the wand towards the back of the shop, as an array of flowers sprouted out of the end with a loud pop, flying about the room, almost peacefully, until they all started exploding in a small fiery array.

"Not that one!" Ollivander spoke up, wrenching the stick from Michael's grasp.

"Try this one!" He said, swapping the box currently in Michael's hand for another. Michael did as ordered, removing a stick that seemed as though it hadn't been worked at all, and still had its bark. He flipped it about in his fingers, and suddenly oil started squirting out of the tip, dousing the box the wand had once been in, nearly drenching Ollivander as he quickly evaded the spurt.

"Oh deary me! Hand it over!" Ollivander said, trying to get at the wand without getting drenched. He took the wand over to a locked trunk, and simply waved a hand at it. The lock upon it popped off, and Ollivander threw the wand in. He then quickly threw the latch upon the trunk, as several chaotic wands seemed to be reacting. Then, all was silent again.

"Sorry about that, out of control wands are a messy business." Mr. Ollivander said, brushing off himself, trying to save face.

"Now...um…" Mr. Ollivander trailed off as he paced back behind his counter, and began fiddling underneath it. He produced three more boxes, placed them on the counter, and then stood up.

"Here," he said, and gave the one he had just placed on top to Michael. Michael took it, and swirled it around. It immediately exploded with a horrifically loud noise, and nearly incinerated the jacket Michael was wearing. Without so much as blinking, Olivander pushed the next box towards Michael. He hesitantly did as he had been doing, and removed the top.

This next wand was an incredibly pale wood, almost white, with a rather large handle and a very thin shaft. It came to an incredibly sharp point, as if a knife, and was only about six inches long, half the length of an average wand.

Michael touched it, to remove it from the box, and when he came into physical contact with it, he was overcome with a very strange feeling. It was as if his hand had suddenly grown cold, and the temperature drop slowly spread to his entire body. He felt tired as he touched it, less energetic about getting a wand, as he slowly took it from the felt casing.

He waved it about, and nothing happened.

"Hm…" Ollivander wondered, placing a finger to his chin. "I think that one just might do for you." He said. Michael stared down at it. He didn't really want it to be his wand. It gave him a sad feeling.

"Are you sure?" Michael asked.

"You're sure you're right-handed?" Ollivander questioned. Michael nodded.

"Then, yes." He said, smiling with a nod. "That'd be a galleon."

"Only a galleon?" Michael asked. He had been expecting a bit more.

"For that wand, yes." Ollivander replied, holding out a hand.

"Well...in that case…" said Michael, as he produced his wallet, and saw the two golden coins remaining within.

"I want two."


	4. Chapter 4

**CALVIN IV**

* * *

Apparition wasn't as fun as Calvin had hoped it was. Back in America, when their group had first been introduced to the MAGES program, they had seen American officials and wizards apparate all the time, whooshing in and out of existence in the blink of an eye, only to reappear as if from nowhere. And Calvin hated it. Every one of them had nearly thrown up their first time, and both Michael and Blythe had, coughing and retching on their knees.

A majority of the group had already been apparated back to their Hotel, all that remained were Calvin, Colin, Conner, and Jonah. Jack had just gone, and Phillis had yet to return from taking him. The four of them waited at the Leaky Cauldron for Michael, who had gone off to buy his wand. Why he hadn't just done it when Conner and Seth did was beyond Calvin, but Michael was the sort of person who didn't really care about making sense.

Calvin thought the wands were cool and everything, but his group had been most interested in the weird sport that the wizards played: Quidditch. He, Jack, and Jonah had gone straight off to the best supply shop Phillis could recommend them, reminding them that first years weren't allowed to play.

"It's much too dangerous for eleven year olds, and you're lucky they even have flying lessons!" Phillis explained as soon as Jack had brought it up for the eighth time.

"Yes, but even as first years, we're already all sixteen! Surely they'd make an exception!" Jonah responded, really just trying to make Jack stop bringing up the issue.

"That may very well be, but that doesn't mean you should waste this project's budget on something you may or may not use! I'm allowing you to buy brooms, and that's it! Not a single bit of uniform or armament is to be bought by any of you, do I make myself clear?"

They all responded with the now becoming classic "Yes, Phillis," and had made their way off.

And what a broom Calvin had bought.

It was a Comet Catcher 580, supposedly the perfection of the comet model, a broomstick with a swirly handle like braided hair, brown like a chestnut. The plume at the end was black, except at the tips, where the color shifted to a radiant light blue, as if water slicing the horizon of a nighttime sky. It was gorgeous.

Jonah had just managed to afford a Cleansweep, a very slender and straight broom that was entirely silver, the ploom seeming to glow with a fluorescent light. Jack had lucked out incredibly though. The clerk at the store said that Jack had a Quidditch build about him, and managed to haggle with him for an antique medieval racing broom, namely the Nimbus 7.

However, Calvin believed jealousy was a waste of time, and his broom looked cooler, anyways. And in the end, that's all that really matters. Calvin ran it through his fingers, flicking each individual piece on the brush. He was eager to fly it, but Phillis had assured them to the contrary.

"If you want to fly your brooms, it'll have to wait until next week, if not when school starts. We have to get all of the paperwork sorted out for your school, and then arrangements have to be made for holiday stay, transportation, family communication, government involvement, and the program's success and or failure! We won't have downtime until the day before term, and if I have time then, I could only teach you three, and everyone else would have to watch, and that wouldn't exactly be fair, now would it?"

Calvin would probably have to wait until school started, and personally preferred that. He didn't take Phillis for a very athletic woman, and she admitted to as much. He would rather have proper lessons and try out for the team, but Jack was less eager about waiting. He would constantly ask her about teaching them, and they had only bought their brooms a few hours ago. Hopefully he would tire of it soon.

Calvin's thoughts were interrupted as Colin began to speak.

"Hey! Michael's back!" He called over Conner's shoulder, who had now regained consciousness, although barely. Michael was indeed back, wearing his full set of robes for some reason.

"Why are you wearing your robes? Phillis asked us not to, no matter how cool they look!" Colin called out to him as soon as he was in earshot. Michael shrugged.

"Might as well try to get used to wearing them." He said, almost a little too plainly, as if he had rehearsed the line, ready to be questioned about it.

"Did you get a wand?" Calvin asked him. It wouldn't surprise him if Michael had come back to ask for money, unable to afford one.

"Yeah, down a galleon." He said smugly, producing a tiny little white stick from his cloak.

"A galleon?" Colin asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, for the wand." Michael said, wiggling the wand around, not understanding the question.

"Dude, my wand cost eight galleons." Colin said upset, producing the black piece of painted Rosewood, decorated with beautiful markings of lightning bolts, indicating the Thunderbird tail feather that dwelt within.

Calvin produced his own wand. His had only cost seven, which was still six more than one. Phillis had congratulated Conner and Calvin on their cores, as their phoenix feathers matched the core of her own wand. Calvin still had no idea what the core of a wand was or what it did, but he supposed it was nice to match with somebody.

"Really? The guy literally only charged me one for the one." He said, twirling the wand as if it were a baton, and smoothly sticking it back into his robes, most definitely something he had rehearsed a million times before coming to meet them.

At this, there was a quiet snapping sound as Phillis cracked into being before them, and Michael hurriedly closed his robes off, hiding the wand for some reason.

"Alright, who's next? Oh, Michael!" She called out, noticing him standing there. Michael gave a curt nod, as Colin offered his arm to Phillis as if asking her to dance.

"I'll go next, seeing as how Brittany and Ben already left." He said, and Phillis linked her own arm with his, popping out of existence just as fast as she had returned.

"How many wands did you go through?" Michael asked Calvin, gesturing to the stick Calvin had laced in his fingers.

"Actually, I got it on the first one." Calvin replied, smiling. "Ollivander said that it was rare, but not unheard of. Jonah went through two, and Jack nearly burnt through eighteen before he got his. He knocked down a bookcase, it was actually terrifying."

The two let out an awkward chuckle.

"What about you?" Calvin asked him.

"Hm?" Michael asked, not understanding.

"How many wands did you go through before you got yours?" Calvin asked, repeating the question.

"Oh, three for this one." Michael responded, reproducing the wand from his cloak, and wiggling it around for emphasis.

"For this one? What do you-" Calvin began, but before he could interrogate further, Phillis popped back into existence right in between the two of them, pushing Michael onto the ground.

"Oh! My apologies!" Phillis hurriedly exclaimed, rushing to help Michael up, even though he was practically already standing.

"Alright, Calvin, you're next." Phillis said, holding out a hand cheerfully.

"What are we going to do about Conner? There's no way he'll be able to apparate in his state." Michael chimed in, gesturing to Conner, who was still incredibly dazed.

"Yes, I doubt he'll be able to take the strain, so you and I are going to carry him back to the Hotel the old fashioned way after I apparate Calvin." Phillis explained, wrapping her fingers around Calvin's own.

"Ready?" She asked, waiting for Calvin's approval. He nodded, and the next thing he knew, he felt himself crushed almost, being squeezed by a sort of invisible pressure as his vision went dark, and his body stiffened. He held onto Phillis's hand as tight as he could, squeezing with all of his might. Then, after merely a moment, he reappeared in a Hotel lobby, right in front of Jack and Jonah.

"Hey!" They exclaimed, as Calvin placed his palm to his temple. Phillis swore that wizards eventually got used to apparating, and that it was even worse when you were actually doing the apparition, but Calvin still felt incredibly nauseous, and doubted he'd ever ignore the feeling. There was another pop as Phillis immediately whooshed away to get Michael and Conner, and it was unlikely she would return for quite some time.

"Calvin, we've gotta show you this!" Jack immediately said, walking off with Jonah towards the direction of their rooms. The Wizarding Hotel they were staying at was supposedly "first class" which Calvin estimated meant the same thing as Five Star. The floors were incredibly polished marble, emblazoned with a chessboard pattern that reflected upon it everything in the room like a mirror. There were several elaborate marble benches with lovely cushions upon them, sewn magically with several arcane designs and niceties. There was even a fountain in the central foyer, with two spiral staircases on either side that led to the Hotel's many stories, the third of which contained their rooms.

Phillis had arranged for each group to have their own separate Hotel room, three people for each four-bed room, except for her room, as she would be bunking with all of the program's girls. This meant that Colin, Ben, and Payne were left odd men out, and had to bunk up with another group. Ben was to stay in Conner, Seth, and Michael's room, Colin was to stay with Blythe, Ross, and Nick, which left Payne, who was to stay with Calvin's group.

"Yeah, I bought at least thirteen boxes of fart flowers, and I started stuffing them in the potted plants in our hallway!" Jack went on explaining, elaborately describing the Wizard Pranks he'd already been pulling. Out of all of the shops they had gone to, they had spent far too much time at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It was a joke shop emporium, and Jack had simply bought one of every product that didn't have the word fart in the title, and at least seven of every product that did.

The only reason he had so much dough to blow was conversions. Everyone in the MAGES program had been assured an equal share of the project's rather lengthy budget, however, Jack decided he would want some additional expenses, and so, his parents had their "Muggle Money" (It felt strange even calling it that) converted into the Wizard Currency of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. The entire time through their shopping spree, Jack had constantly jingle jangled with the sounds of metal coins bouncing around in his pockets, and it was at least surprising to Calvin that Conner had been mugged but not Jack.

As they approached their room, they saw Payne was already standing outside it, holding his nose. Payne was visibly shorter than most everyone else in the group, with well-combed blond hair standing at about everyone's chest height. He was a mix of slightly fat and slightly muscular, a body type that fit him rather well, even as he gave the three of them death stares as they approached.

"Guys, it smells like crap in this hallway." He explained, gesturing to the array of now-pranked potted plants. "Couldn't we have done this in a DIFFERENT hallway?"

"Just go inside the room, you can't smell it in there." Jack explained, gesturing to the door as the three of them now came up to it.

"First off, Calvin's the only one with a key, second off, you CAN smell it in the room, because that's where all of the leftovers are!" Payne retorted. Calvin walked past the two as they bickered, and slid the key from his pocket. Phillis had essentially picked a leader of each group by handing out the Hotel keys. The only owners of keys were Calvin himself, Conner, Brittany, and Blythe, each to their respective rooms.

As the key clicked in the lock, Calvin pushed the door open. It was a strange contrast to the modern world that the wizard world was always rocking, using regular keys for hotels as opposed to the modern keycard. And, much to the opposite of the incredibly modern and stylish lobby, their room was a different story. First off, the room was only the size of any normal bedroom, yet had a fully lit chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Each of the four beds had canopies above them, draped in fine sheets and silk. A large fire was burning in the fireplace, and Jonah walked past Calvin into the room, ready to change the color of the flames, one of their altogether favorite features.

Jack practically tackled Calvin as he dashed into the room, sprinting to his collection of pranks and poop balloons. Payne waited patiently for Calvin to get the key out of the door, before the two headed in. The room just had a general feel of old fashioned, filling the aesthetic with a very "victorian" vibe to say nothing else, and the balcony. Oh, the balcony.

It was a wonder to the boy's minds, as the hotel was nestled in Downtown London, nestled between two other buildings, with not an inch between them. Yet, every room had a balcony, that looked out over any place the occupant of the room wanted. Magic was amazing.

Calvin went and plopped himself onto his own bed, and took a sigh of relief. He wasn't used to this kind of lifestyle. He had been ripped away from his normal life in the United States as a high schooler, and was now about to become a magical high school student in an English castle. It was a lot to process. As Calvin sat contemplating, Jack ran around their room like a five year old, parading with his broom held high above his head.

"I wonder what happens if you fall off…" Jack wondered as he leaped off of his bed, and landing harshly, still hoisting up the broom as if to save it from touching the ground.

"Phillis told us about five times." Jonah remarked, wondering how many more times Jack would forget basic information. "At each and every match there are countless teachers presents who can cast Anti-Gravity charms." Jonah explained carefully, really trying to get Jack to process the information.

Hours went by like this. Jack would ask questions, tell one liners, reference nerd culture, and every now and again try to jump off the balcony, before getting thrown back on by its magic. Jonah tried his best to enjoy the luxury of the room, and was going through his suitcase, unpacking to make himself more comfortable, and producing a deck of cards to pass the time. All the while Payne was mostly texting, as the hotel was one of few places in the Wizarding World where you could get connection.

Their period of relaxing was broken when there was a knock on the door.

"It's Phillis." Came the voice of presumably Phillis.

Calvin walked over and opened the door. There, indeed, stood Phillis, garbed in her very attention-demanding mint robes.

"Ah! Calvin! Just the one I wanted to talk to!" Phillis said, gesturing for Calvin to join her in the hallway. Calvin did as bid, and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, her cheery expression grew grim.

"It's about Conner." She explained, and Calvin understood.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Calvin asked, hopeful.

"Oh, yes, he'll be fine. He literally just had a couple bruises and a bloody nose." She said dismissively. Calvin breathed a sigh of relief, but Phillis continued.

"Listen, I did a sort of check-up on him, to see if anything magical had been done to him, and I found something." She explained, evidently concerned. Calvin was understandably confused.

"What did you find?" He asked, after Phillis didn't continue.

"Well...I found traces of a spell called 'obliviate'." She said. "It's a sort of memory spell. To wipe or change someone's memories."

"So...if it was used on him, does he have amnesia?" Calvin inquired. Phillis shook her head.

"That's not the way the spell works. The caster can rearrange certain thoughts and even create false memories. It seems whoever attacked Conner erased the event from Conner's mind. Obliviate is a very hard spell to master, especially to do it without harming anything else." Phillis said, seemingly growing more and more concerned with each passing word.

"What does that mean, though?" Calvin asked.

"Well, I'm a little worried. I don't know how spells like that may affect all of you, since you're not born wizards…" Phillis mumbled, trailing off. There was a silence as the two both stared at a potted plant in the hall, which reeked beyond belief.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Calvin asked, still unsure of the situation Phillis was trying to explain.

"Something about this situation makes me think that Conner was attacked for a reason. I'm a little apprehensive about sending you all off to Hogwarts." She clarified.

"Are you going to cancel the MAGES program?!" Calvin asked, suddenly panicked. There was no way that Calvin or any of the others could go back to regular lives after knowing this world existed. Seeing him distraught, Phillis adorned a warm smile.

"No, I wouldn't do that to you." She said, as Calvin heaved a sigh of relief. But as he did so, Phillis's expression turned serious again.

"But, you're the only person in the group I can trust. Someone may want to hurt you. You need to promise me that you'll protect everyone in this program with your life." Phillis said. Calvin stared at her.

"I promise." He said.

After this was said, Phillis headed back to the girl's room, barely taking time to shout to him to make sure everyone in his room was in bed before it got too this, Calvin turned to head back into his own room, only to find the occupants of it standing outside behind him. Jack, Jonah, and Payne froze as Calvin turned to face them, and he noticed they were all carrying their brooms.

"What are you guys doing?" Calvin asked suspiciously.

"Is Phillis gone?" Jack asked, walking towards Calvin to peek over his shoulder, catching a final glimpse of Phillis as she closed the door to the girl's room behind her.

"We're going to go flying." Jonah said, answering Calvin's question with a gesture from his broom. Calvin looked them all over.

"Where? We're in a hotel." Calvin pointed out, but Payne shook his head.

"That lobby is HUGE! We could totally fly around in there! I mean, we're not gonna be chucking around any balls, but why would we wait for school to start before we fly?" Payne explained, shaking around his broomstick with excitement.

"No, we-" Calvin began, but stopped himself. He thought back to Phillis's words, which were obviously still fresh in his mind, and corrected himself.

"We can't until I grab my broom." Calvin said, and dashed inside the room, resulting in a rally of hushed cheers from the other boys. They would be safe in the hotel, and Phillis was the last thing they had to fear. Calvin wasn't their babysitter, that was Phillis's job. All Calvin had to do was make sure that nobody died.

How hard could that be?


	5. Chapter 5

**CONNER V**

* * *

Conner wasn't exactly an expert on trains or anything, but certainly most train stations weren't this huge. Enormous pillars lined the walkways of King's Cross Station, dividing the numbered platforms. The lofty ceiling stretched high above the group of students, as they weaved and bobbed their way through the crowd of muggles. Conner wondered how many of the people around him were actually wizards in disguise, and knew everything he knew about the world. The rest were all muggles, and none of them knew anything.

Phillis corralled the group, doing an excellent job standing out. Trailing her was a steady line of teenagers pushing incredibly large and clunky trolleys, stacked with suitcases and bags of all their belongings. Ben had the sparkling cat he had bought in a little cage on top of his bags, and Seth had volunteered to buy an owl that everyone in the group could use to send letters, which constantly hooted and gathered a lot of attention from passersby.

After a while of walking at a decently brisk pace, Phillis eventually dipped to the left of the massive crowd, standing next to a train and between two pillars on the platform. Everyone eventually followed her, forming a little semicircle of trolleys, forcing the crowd to move around them as they faced her.

"Alright, everyone. Today's the big day." Phillis said, letting out a sigh. She had told them that it was the big day at least seven times now, it being the very thing she had shouted down the halls of the hotel to wake them all up. "Who wants to go first?" Phillis asked, opening her arms in an inviting gesture. Both Michael and Payne made moves to go, excited, but Payne backed up, gesturing for Michael to go first.

Michael gripped his trolley, and ran towards one of the pillars, breaking into a sprint, until eventually slamming into the brick pillar, sending of his belongings cascading around the platform, as he flipped over the cart, and rammed his head into the brickwork.

"Oooh! That's the wrong pillar!" Phillis exclaimed as Michael stumbled up from the pile of his scattered things. A few of the MAGES broke into laughs, as Phillis helped Michael to his feet.

"Alright, this one!" Phillis said, pointing to the other pillar. Payne gave Michael a sideways glance, then strode up the opposite pillar, and dashed through, disappearing as soon as he would have done the same as Michael. Simply, ceasing to be. It was quite like apparating, Conner noted, and was worried that it might make him sick. Each of them began running into the pillar, whooshing away, and not a single one of the muggles nearby seemed to notice. Not a one of them even looked.

A few moments later, and only Conner, Michael, and Phillis remained on the platform. Michael was just finishing hauling all of his bags onto the trolley, and held his head as he pushed around to face the correct pillar. Conner pulled up alongside him.

"We probably should have just done it together in the first place." Michael muttered, removing his hand from his curly covered head to make sure that he wasn't bleeding. Phillis came up behind the two of them, and the three entered at the same time. Conner watched as the brick wall came closer and closer as he dashed towards it. As it grew nearer, his instincts forced him to try and stop himself, but the wheels on his trolley were already moving, and as he closed his eyes, and braced for impact, nothing happened.

He slowly opened them, and was taken aback. He was standing in a station much like King's Cross, a large pillared platform, off of which stood only a single train. The engine was a brilliant scarlet, with an ornate metal plate on the front proudly reading _Hogwarts Express._ Michael gasped in amazement. For Conner, this was perhaps the biggest moment of realization. He had seen the floating objects, the flashing lights, the explosions, the teleporting. But for some reason, this regular looking train really sealed the deal. He was going to wizard school.

This moment did not last.

"Come on! We're already running behind!" Phillis shouted, shoving the two boys forwards, towards where the rest of the group was waiting.

"What? The train leaves in thirty minutes!" Michael exclaimed indignantly, but Phillis didn't even respond as she drove them towards the train. The entire time, it was like being in Diagon Alley. Wizards were running around, not even bothering to hide from muggles, because there weren't any around.

"How do people get here if not from King's Cross?" Seth asked, seemingly noticing this.

"Floo Powder can get people all sorts of places," Phillis began to hurriedly explain, "so can apparating, portkeys, and the station is even accessible from Diagon Alley. However, our program has very certain restrictions in place by the MACUSA, so we have to take muggle entrances."

As she said this, they walked up to a man on the train taking bags, and began handing him their luggage.

"Remember to keep your robes with you on the train! Along with any pillows, it's a long ride, you may want blankets as well, and money for the trolley, but don't eat too much, you'll have a feast as soon as you get there, along with the sorting, where you-" Phillis sighed. "I'm going to miss all of you." She said sadly.

As the members of the MAGES program began boarding the train, they were forbidden to do so before giving Phillis a hug. She had been their caretaker for about a month now, and they wouldn't get to see her again until Christmas. Michael, Conner, and Seth were the last three to board the train. As they were about to do so, Phillis grabbed Conner by the sleeve.

"Listen here, don't go wandering off." Phillis said sternly. "You need to stay with these two, I don't want you to get lost."

"He's gonna be at school, how lost can he get?" Michael asked, chuckling.

"Just, be careful. I don't want you to get hurt." Phillis said, giving Conner one last hug.

The three headed into the compartments, weaving their way past their fellow students.

"Now...do we sit with the first years? Or the sixth years?" Seth asked, confused.

"Meh, let's just sit with everybody else." Michael said, indicating a train compartment where a lone Payne sat across from Nick and Blythe. The trio took all of their belongings, and stowed them in the overhead, before sitting down on the pretentiously lush cushions of the train seats.

There was a long silence. Nobody really said anything, and no one needed to. The excitement and apprehension was palpable. Even when the train finally started moving, with a slow _Ka chunk, Ka chunk, Ka chunk,_ no one bothered to say anything. As the train pulled out of the station, Conner shot one last glance out the window. He saw Phillis standing at the edge of the platform, waving desperately at the boys. Conner returned the wave, as the train moved ever onwards, Phillis's minty green cloak faded out of view, as the train was surrounded by English countryside.

When Payne eventually spoke, half the boys nearly jumped out of their seats.

"So...like...Conner, what the heck happened, man?" All of the boys turned to Conner as he faced away from the window.

"I, I don't know." Conner said, glumly. He reached up and touched his nose. It was still kinda gross, and he had the ever present smell of blood. Phillis was confident that magical healing might harm him, so it would be best to do things the muggle way. "I can't remember."

Everyone didn't really respond, until Michael cut in.

"He was probably mugged by goblins, guys! Has no one else noticed how freaking shady those guys are!?" He practically shouted in his booming comical voice, forcing half a chuckle from all of the boys, except Conner, who was caught up in thought. As a conversation ensued about which magical creature each of the boys was the most excited to encounter, Conner turned sadly to the window, and again let the blurring green plains fill his vision.

"Hey, um, let's go see if we can track down the trolley lady." Michael said hurriedly, wrenching his galleons from his suitcase.

"You coming, Conner?" Nick asked, curious.

"Nah, let's go, guys." Michael said, pulling Nick by the shoulder into the train's corridor.

Conner pulled out his wand. It was oddly boring compared to some of the other boys' wands. Just a piece of cherry wood, shaved of bark, whittled to a round point, with a slight dent in the shaft. He would finally, in less than a day, be able to use this stick to do whatever he wanted. He could wave his wand, and he could do anything. Anything at all. He put it back into his pocket, and leaned against the window. Everyone else besides him was out and about in the train, shouting for the lady with the candy.

So much for staying together.


	6. Chapter 6

**BLYTHE VI**

* * *

Trains were cool, Blythe had always thought. He didn't have much train experience, but despite the objective coolness of trains, Blythe decided that magic trains were cooler. He had originally got into a train compartment with Colin, Brittany, and Ben. But, only Ben remained in the car, as Colin and Brittany had dashed off. The trolley had already come to their train compartment, and as such, Ben was nibbling at a liquorice wand, while Blythe had a terrade of wizarding sweets stockpiled around him. He wasn't making a mess or anything, but with so many strange foods, well, why wouldn't you eat all of them?

"You do know Phillis said to eat kind of light, right?" Ben called up from his wand, very intent not to talk whilst chewing. Blythe looked down from a box of cauldron cakes he had been funneling into his mouth above his head.

"Yeah, but there's gonna be regular food at the feast, not just wizard food." Blythe said, smacking his lips together periodically to the tune of his chewing. "We won't get another chance to go crazy on wizard candy until a trip to Hogsmeade, we'll have a feast everyday!"

Ben nodded, noting that, although he didn't seem to agree. Blythe didn't care, as he proceeded to pick up a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"What are THESE!?" Blythe asked excitedly, looking over the box.

"They're the..second most popular candy, from what I've heard," Ben chimed, "while chocolate frogs are really cool for their cards, those are apparently a bit of a gamble. They have beans for literally every flavor, and each box is random."

Blythe looked over the box carefully, and then opened it gingerly.

"You'll want to be careful. They get really creative with bad flavors." Ben said, apprehensively. Blythe looked inside the opened box, where inside sat a multitude of differently colored and decorated jelly beans. Blythe paused for just a moment, and then placed one into his mouth. He began to chew thoughtfully, as Ben eyed him.

Then, Blythe turned the box upside down, and let all of the beans fall into his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Ben shouted, nearly standing up. As soon as Blythe closed his mouth, trapping all of the beans inside, he began flailing about, nearly crying as he tried to chew. "Spit them out!' Ben said, chuckling at the hilarity of Blythe's flailing, but still a little nervous.

Blythe held up a finger, as he coughed and chewed, holding them inside. And then, he let out a resounding gulp, and exhaled. Ben looked at him expectantly.

"That was actually really cool." Blythe said, picking up another box. Ben gave him a look of disbelief, but there he went, chugging down even more beans. As he began dancing about again, seemingly in terrible pain, Ben leaned across to Blythe's candy pile, and picked up a Chocolate Frog. He cracked open the violet and gold pentagon of a box, and inside was a completely featureless brown frog. It began jumping about, which Ben hadn't expected, and he stood from his seat in a panic.

Two second years passed by their train compartment, and saw Blythe leaping around in a frenzy as he tried to contain the conflicting flavors of dozens of jelly beans, and Ben trying to catch the chocolate frog as it hopped around the compartment, all three knocking about candy wrappers and boxes.

The two second years continued walking.


	7. Chapter 7

**SETH VII**

* * *

Seth was well accustomed to wearing a school uniform. Before this recent coming to wizard school, he had attended a private school, where he wore a uniform every day. However, as he dressed himself for Hogwarts, he decided that this uniform, he wouldn't mind wearing everyday. A simple white shirt with slacks was almost identical to what he was used to, but the accompaniment of a billowing black robe with a hood and cloak was definitely an improvement. The trim on the end of his robe was grey, as was the crest on his lapel, as he was yet to be sorted into a Hogwarts house.

Next to him, Michael spun around in a circle, letting his own cloak billow around him, as he posed about with his wand. Seth hadn't gotten a good look at it before, but Michael's wand was incredibly small. It was only about six inches long, yet an ornately carved yew branch. Seth wasn't sure about wizard customs or anything, but he was ready to believe that it wasn't about size, more about how you used it.

The train had stopped only a little while ago, and they had only recently remembered that they were to wear their robes upon entering the castle. As large numbers of students cascaded down the corridors of the train, the four boys waited politely for a chance to duck out.

"Do you think we'll all be in the same house?" Michael asked, sounding a little worried.

"Well, we're all in the same program, so I doubt it'll split us up too much if we get split at all." Seth pointed out. While they wouldn't be bunking together, they would still have plenty of classes together, so Seth wasn't too worried about the different directions the group would split. As long as he had someone else in his house, he was good.

Shortly, the boys stood out on the platform. It was well into the night, and the sky above shed barely any light at all down onto the lake near the station. As students began splitting and shuffling around awkwardly, a large, booming voice called out.

"FIRST YEARS! First years, follow me!"

Heads turned, all to see the biggest man you ever did see. He was well over ten feet tall, with a large coat, upon which rested a scraggly beard and long locks of hair. Many of the students gasped in alarm as they saw him, but he didn't seem to pay any mind. He produced a lantern from his cloak, and it lit itself magically.

"This way!" He shouted. He led them down a walkway from the station to the shore of the lake, where dozens of small wooden boats lay, upon each a lantern. Seth turned, and saw that none of the other students were following the man, only the first years. How did they get to the castle if not by boat?

He turned back, and saw that Michael and Conner were keeping close to him. He was the shortest of the trio, sticking out above the heads of the numerous eleven year olds, but not by much. Michael, on the other hand, was practically two first years tall.

Seth waited towards the back of the group, standing next to Michael and Conner, as the multitude of children all got into boat after boat. As soon as a boat held four students, it immediately took off into the water, without any paddles or a motor. The enormous man leading everyone took up an entire boat to himself as he flopped into it, cascading ahead of the group with the lantern.

Michael was hurriedly bragging about how much he had been on canoeing trips, and could easily row the boat, obviously not having yet noticed the boats were magic. He began looking for paddles as he climbed into one of the boats on the far left of the shore, and Conner followed in after him. Conner's behavior had been a little strange in the last few days. He was not his jovial charismatic self. Seth was perplexed at this, as surely what happened shouldn't be bugging him this much.

He climbed into the boat, still thinking, as it shoved off from shore, the sudden pull causing Michael to fall flat on his face.

"Aren't the boats supposed to wait until there are four people in them?" Conner asked, confused. Seth shrugged, until he looked back, and realized that they were the last boat in line, and there was nobody left.

As they rode swiftly through the water, Seth took the time to actually look up at the castle. And boy, was it a sight. Enormous towers and terraces stretched up, scraping across the sky, lit up by thousands of windows. Bridges connected places this way and that, and enormous pointed towers winded and extended upon each other, into a sprawling stone form. Hogwarts certainly looked like a wizard school.

"Wow." Muttered Michael, as he sat curled up beside Seth. Conner's amazement left him in silence. Seth saw the other members of the MAGES program in their boats. Some of them were all together, and poor Ben was stuck in a boat with no one but first years.

The boats moved ever onwards, and as soon as Seth was able to pry his eyes from the sight that was the castle, he turned instead to peer into the lake. The Black Lake. Phillis had told them all about it. Supposedly, the lake contained several magical creatures. The grindylow, a giant squid, and even, merpeople. Maybe there was a mermaid staring back at him right now through the pitch black water.

As Seth gazed into the small waves, he was suddenly startled as the boat bumped into the boat in front. Seth hurriedly looked up, and saw that they were no longer on the open water, but inside a quaint little boat house.

"Alright, everyone out!" The large man shouted, waving for everyone to come out of the boats. Michael was the first to scramble out, gazing in awe at everything around him, even though they were just inside a little boat house. Even still, Seth was excited. He was here. Hogwarts. Moving staircases, secret passages, magical creatures, spellcraft, flying brooms, ghosts! Who knows, maybe one of them would get to smooch a mermaid.


	8. Chapter 8

**MICHAEL VIII**

* * *

Michael had never been more amazed in his entire life. He wandered through the hallways and corridors of the castle in an almost a trance-like state, gazing open-mouthed at each and every archway and magically lit torch. He was practically dragged amongst the sea of students by Conner and Seth, as they tried to prevent him from tripping or bumping into anyone. Emphasis on tried. But Michael remained completely oblivious, and about every five minutes he would say, "This is so cool…" out loud, annoying everyone around him half to death.

The students were all corralled by the Deputy Headmaster, a tall and lanky man with short, side swept hair and a round face, that, despite being round, appeared rather handsome. He was wearing a thick knitted sweater beneath a billowing crimson robe, and had introduced himself as 'Professor Longbottom'.

"You first years are going to love it here!" He proudly exclaimed every couple of feet, "The castle itself is amazing, and the courses here are much more advanced and traditionalized than at other wizarding schools. Every course is something worth taking!" Michael drank in every word, fingering his wand beneath his robes, itching for his first opportunity to use it for the actual first time. He imagined what it would be like, to have a teacher in front of a class, one he actually wanted to pay attention to, as that teacher would help him get everything he'd ever wanted.

As the group arrived at an enormous set of doors, Professor Longbottom stopped, and spun around on his heels to face the first years. "Now! This room just before us is the Great Hall, where the rest of the student body is gathered! And then, each of you will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses! Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin!" Professor Longbottom explained, and the students began mumbling.

Phillis had explained to Michael and the rest of the group earlier the importance to sorting throughout all wizarding culture.

"Organization is very important. Wizards have categorized every known spell into charms, hexes, curses, etc. In that same sense, wizards must be categorized, so that their greatest strengths and weaknesses may be known, and best utilized for a productive magical society. Not all magical schools have a sorting process, but Hogwarts and Ilvermorny do, I myself was a Horned Serpent back in school!" Phillis explained with a chuckle.

Now, Michael wasn't very organized, and wasn't really a fan of the concept behind the system. Mostly because he didn't want to be separated from his friends, and forced to hang out with a bunch of kids he may or may not even like. But as he stood there thinking this, Professor Longbottom turned, and thrust open the great doors, with only a slight push, but the doors opened slowly and powerfully, obviously magical.

The sight of the Great Hall was breathtaking. A striking night sky, filled with stars that sparkled and glittered on a high ceiling. There were thousands of floating candles, that lit up the hall as bright as any room Michael had ever been in. There were grand fireplaces with roaring blazes, all lined up amidst the four massive tables, seated at which was the entirety of the Hogwarts students.

As the collection of first years strode forwards, they saw the huge table on a raised platform, at which the school's teachers sat at. Michael spied in the middle Headmistress McGonagall, a tall and gaunt woman dressed in green and silver robes. At the end of the table sat Hagrid, the enormous giant who had ushered the first years to the boats, sitting about four or five feet taller than the other professors.

On a little stool that was placed in the center of the platform, was an old beaten up hat, that Professor Longbottom practically skipped up to.

"Alrighty, boys and girls! When I call your name, come up, and you'll be sorted!" He called out, over the quiet buzz of first year excitement. He cleared his throat in a very over dramatic fashion, and held up a long bit of parchment.

"Conner Hack!" He called out. At this, every member of the MAGES program went silent and their eyes flocked to Conner. He shuffled awkwardly in his robes to get past the clump of eleven year olds, and trudged up the steps to the stool. As he turned to sit down, Professor Longbottom placed the beaten up hat onto his head. As he did this, a seam on the hat suddenly split open, and began speaking, as if the hole were a mouth.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" The hat mused, moving around, completely alive. "You're quite smart, aren't you, boy? At least decently intelligent, a lot of character here...rather compassionate...hello, what's this?" The hat bobbed leaned with each passing word, but nearly pulled itself off Conner's head at this last question.

The hat began speaking in a low whisper. All of the first years tried to crane forwards, but they still couldn't hear. The hat whispered to Conner for only about a minute or so, all the while Conner said nothing.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted loudly. And the table draped in green silks erupted into applause, standing and cheering as the hat was lifted off Conner's head and he walked over. Michael let out a gasp of horror. Other names were called, but Michael wasn't paying attention. He just stood there staring at the Slytherin table. Michael didn't notice as Seth was also placed into Slytherin. He didn't even bat an eye when Ben, Brittany, and Nick were all placed into Ravenclaw. Calvin, Blythe, and Jonah were all three sorted into Gryffindor, and Payne and Ross were shuffled off into Hufflepuff.

Michael was separated from his best friend. Unless… He suddenly came back to his senses, and locked his eyes on the Sorting Hat. He had to be sorted in Slytherin. He had to. He tried to think Slytherin thoughts, but was snapped out of it when his name was called.

"Michael Thieme!" Professor Longbottom called out. Michael stepped over and around the first years, and ran up excitedly to the stool. Professor Longbottom pressed the hat down over Michael's curly head, and Michael immediately felt a strange presence come over his mind.

"Well, then! Look at what we have here!" The hat chimed out with a chuckle. Michael tried very desperately to pretend his favorite color was green. The hat wasn't buying it.

"You're not as dumb as you look, are you?" The hat said, resulting in plenty of chuckles from the amass of students. "You're funny, I can tell, yes, you are a hard one to place…" the hat began mumbling, thinking very intently.

"Slytherin, please…" Michael whispered.

"You want to be in Slytherin!?" The hat shouted, and Michael winced. "Why on earth would you want to do that!?" The hat began to laugh. "Look at you, you could never be great in Slytherin…"

"But, I don't want to be great. I just want to be happy." Michael said in a hushed tone still, hoping the hat wouldn't shout out again.

"You want to be with your friends, don't you?" The hat asked, much more quietly, but still audibly.

"Yes." Michael said, in a very sincere voice.

"Then you'll have to be great." The hat said in a low whisper.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted. Michael's jaw dropped, as he just sat there in shock. The Hufflepuff table burst into intense clapping, Payne and Ross clapping the loudest. Professor Longbottom removed the hat from Michael's head, but he didn't move. It took many slight elbow nudges and one hard one before Michael finally stood up, and walked away from the stool, his face blank.

As he sat down next to Payne at the Hufflepuff table, he didn't look up to see Colin join the Slytherins, and Jack join the Gryffindors. He just stared into his empty goblet. After the last of the first years waddled off to their tables, Headmistress McGonagall stood from her seat, and tapped her glass with her spoon.

"Attention, students!" She called out, and her words fell over silent students, for each wizard and witch in the hall was completely quiet.

"I have a few announcements for the new year! First off, welcome back to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry! It's quite a pleasure to have you all back here, and even better to see the shining young faces of our first years!" At this, there was large amounts of clapping from the mass of students, that went on for a very long time, until only one guy was clapping, and clapped for about ten whole seconds before someone told him to shut up.

"Secondly," She continued, increasing the amount of drama she poured into her voice, "we will explain the rules for the House Cup! This is an award given to the house that receives the most house points! These are given to a house for exemplary actions and performance in the classroom, and taken away for rule breaking and bad behavior. Last year, as you recall, Ravenclaw received the cup for the first time in years!" She cried, and was immediately interrupted by the Ravenclaw table bursting into roaring applause and hoots.

"Slytherin's victory streak was cut short by Gryffindor's, until finally Ravenclaw pulled through! No matter who wins, I'm sure we'll have an EXCELLENT year!" At this there was more clapping, but it was a very calm clap, and ended rather quickly.

"Thirdly, one more announcement. This year, Hogwarts is hosting a very special program. We have been contacted by the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and have enrolled fifteen students from their MAGES program!" Heat shot up Michael's neck. No one was looking at him especially or anything, but he still felt like everyone was watching him.

"I hope everyone shows them equal respect as they would any other student, and I hope they have a wonderful time here at Hogwarts!" She called out, and again, there was a short, polite clap.

"And finally, a word to you all." She said, and grew a little more serious.

"You are about to begin another term of schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This school as stood for centuries, thousands of years, and has seen many things. Several parents have refused to send their children to this school due to the recent of events of the Second Wizarding War, which is why it is paramount" she paused for dramatic effect, "that we show this world this school is still the best magical academy in the world!" She shouted.

"LET THE FEAST, BEGIN!" She finished, and the whole crowd and professors burst into cheering and applause as food appeared on every table, magically and deliciously popping into existence. Many of the students dove in, but Michael just sat there, staring at it.


End file.
